


Overlap

by darkcyan



Series: Tumblr Fics [8]
Category: Natsume Yuujinchou | Natsume's Book of Friends
Genre: Gen, Gratuitous Beach Episode, Originally Posted on Tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-31
Updated: 2019-03-31
Packaged: 2019-12-26 23:47:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18292622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darkcyan/pseuds/darkcyan
Summary: Natsume has never been to the beach with friends. His friends decide they want to change that.





	Overlap

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted [here](http://cyanmnemosyne.tumblr.com/post/131335124858/iambiik-replied-to-your-post-iambiik-replied-to) in October of 2015; I've lightly edited the beginning to make it stand alone, since the original was several layers of replies deep. 
> 
> I don't entirely remember the context anymore -- I think this was intended to be set after some unspecified Exorcist Nonsense had gone down, but I don't think it was meant to map closely to any specific episode or chapter. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy! :)

Let’s say that something stressful and youkai-related has just gone down, and Natsume’s school friends notice his distraction and – since it is the middle of summer after all – propose a relaxing trip to the beach. Natsume hasn’t been to the beach with friends before, but it sounds like fun.

On the train, they encounter the little fox, who had been on the way to visit Natsume again and is thrilled to have met halfway.

So there Natsume is, at the beach, with Tanuma and Nishimura and Kitamoto and Taki.  Nishimura’s making a low-grade fool of himself over Taki, but Kitamoto’s keeping him mostly in line, and Natsume’s just starting to relax.

They splash around in the surf some.  If Nishimura and Kitamoto think it’s a bit strange that Natsume would be friends with a fox (or sometimes a little boy who looks vaguely familiar) … they don’t ask. The little fox keeps trying to take on waves as big as he is, though, so Natsume keeps a near-constant eye on him and has to rescue him.  More than once. (A lot more than once.)

By the time everyone else is ready for a break from the surf, the little fox is _exhausted_.  Tanuma smiles down at him, remembering a fall festival and a little boy that once or twice today he’s _almost_ seen, and offers his towel to curl up on.  The little fox does, and is soon out like a light, while everyone else talks and laughs over lunch.

Afterwards, Kitamoto proposes beach volleyball, and there’s an awkward moment where they try to figure out how to do that with five of them.  Natsume, Tanuma, and Taki all offer to sit it out at once. Tanuma wins by playing the “I could use the rest anyway – _stop worrying I’m fine_ ” card. 

(Kitamoto quickly proposes that it be him and Nishimura against Natsume and Taki, before that gleam in Nishimura’s eye can turn into him putting his foot in it _again_.)

Natsume admits that he’s never played volleyball – beach or otherwise – before, and even Tanuma joins in explaining it to him.  (Natsume asks if Tanuma’s _sure_ he’d rather sit out – but gets drowned out by everyone else, because clearly he _has_ to play now.)

He’s terrible, of course.  They all are, but Natsume is undeniably the worst.  He almost never manages to hit the ball, and when he does, he can never aim it properly.

Most of the time, this just means the ball hits the net and Nishimura trash-talks his aim. 

(The first time he did that, Kitamoto shoved him so hard he almost fell over, Taki looked like she was about to stalk over and do worse, and Nishimura apologized immediately.  Natsume thinks it’s just how he plays the game, though, because he can’t seem to _stop_ doing it.  And, well.  Knowing he’s not serious, some of his comments _are_ pretty funny.)

(So he tries to trash-talk back, when – not quite as frequently as Natsume, but frequently enough – Nishimura fouls something up, too.  The first time, everyone stares at him for a long moment.  Then Nishimura grins broadly and Kitamoto relaxes, and the game is _on_ after that.)

(… Nishimura’s undeniably better at trash talking, too.)

But once – when the ball’s _just_ outside of Natsume’s reach, and he just _barely_ manages to hit it in time, and for a moment it feels almost like striking a youkai – the ball goes flying.  Out of their little court, over the heads of several others of their classmates, and over a short fence that divides it from another section of the beach. 

Natsume waves his friends off and runs over.  He circles the fence and looks to see where the ball would have gone – finally sees it next to a young couple.  The man’s fallen backwards, rubbing his head, while his girlfriend bends solicitously over him. 

He totally misses the video cameras until someone bellows “CUT!”

“I think I’m going to need a moment before the retake,” the man says as his girlfriend helps him to stand. 

His voice is horrifyingly familiar. 

“Are you kidding?  That was _perfect_.  We’re keeping it!”

In a bright, colorful shirt that he’s left gaping open and dark blue swim trunks, he looks – well, _very_ Natori, actually.  Natsume’s can’t believe he missed it, even before the gecko crawls across his chest.  It’s just.  He didn’t expect to see Natori.  Not so soon, and not _here_.

“The suffering I do for my art,” Natori sighs dramatically – and Natsume knows the moment he sees him, because he stiffens, too. 

“Hey, kid, what are you doing here?” asks a nearby cameraman, not completely unkindly. 

Natsume jumps.  “Um.  It’s –” he gestures towards Natori and his – coworker, presumably. “– the ball, it’s mine.  Sorry.”

Natori bends to pick the ball up in a single graceful movement and pitches it at him underhanded once he’s in easy conversational distance.  “No need to be sorry,” he says, all sparkles (the impersonal kind?  Natsume is horrified that he’s apparently started categorizing Natori’s sparkles).  “You heard the director, didn’t you?  You couldn’t have aimed better if you’d tried.”

“I didn’t.”  Especially after … everything, Natsume feels he has to say it. “Try, I mean.” He doesn’t _blame_ Natori, exactly.  It just … hurts right now. 

Natori’s smile shades kinder, and he leans over to ruffle Natsume’s hair.  “I know, kid.”

(It feels a bit like an apology.)

Natsume bows and leaves, because he’s not sure he could talk to Natori alone right now, much less in front of a bunch of strangers.

He doesn’t mention what happened when he gets back.  The last thing he needs right now is Nishimura deciding he needs to go watch the filming, and he _would_. 

Of course, it’s all for naught when Natori comes over later in the afternoon – after filming’s done, apparently – and promptly introduces himself to all of Natsume’s friends.  (Nishimura will probably be hounding him about his “betrayal” for _months_.)

Luckily, Tanuma is clearly still pretty dubious about Natori too – though he doesn’t turn them down when Natori _of course_ has _yet another_ set of free movie tickets to hand out.  And Taki seems … more bemused than anything.

Natsume slowly relaxes as it becomes clear that this is all Natori has come over to do – introduce himself to Natsume’s friends and test Natsume’s patience.  It’s … almost comforting.  Maybe because Kitamoto and Nishimura are here.  Maybe because Natori is very clearly in actor mode, not exorcist mode right now. 

Maybe because it’s a reminder that the different parts of his life overlapping doesn’t _always_ have to end in disaster.  

… Which doesn’t mean it’s not _really_ obnoxious. 

“And there we were, right in the middle of a scene –”

But watching his friends laugh … he supposes that maybe that’s okay sometimes, too.


End file.
